Beethoven's Wig
Encyclopedia
Beethoven's Wig is a vocal group that sings lyrics written to the greatest hits of classical music. Created by lyricist, lead singer and producer Richard Perlmutter
, the group has been a featured performer with numerous symphony orchestras. Beethoven's Wig has recorded four albums.
Each Beethoven's Wig CD has received a Grammy Award
nomination for Best Musical Album for Children. The group has also received four Parents Choice Awards, and three of its albums have been named American Library Association Notable Recordings. In total the series has been honored with 46 national awards.
The performing and recording group features singers Elin Carlson, Jonathan Mack, Susan Boyd, Jon Joyce and Michael Geiger.
in 2002. Prior to that time Perlmutter had released two solo albums, Tin Pan Alley Songs For Children, and Hot Diggity, and produced albums for the Grammy Award
winning band Nickel Creek
and Saturday Night Live
cast member Victoria Jackson
. Perlmutter had studied classical guitar, piano, and music composition, and had wanted to write lyrics to classical music. He described his thoughts when he came up with the words "Beethoven's wig is very big", to the tune of the allegro con brio of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, "The words fit perfectly with the first eight notes of the symphony. And the wig was a perfect symbol for classical music."
Within a week of the release of the album, Perlmutter was featured on NPR
's All Things Considered, and then appeared on NBC
's Today Show. The album shot to #6 on Amazon
's Hot 100 Sales Chart and held the #1 position on both the Amazon Classical and Children's Music Sales Charts for four months.
Pulse magazine called Beethoven's Wig, "Brilliant, absolutely brilliant!" The LA Times said it was, "an irreverent approach to music appreciation." US News and World Report said, "Perlmutter's got goofball charm… the lyrics are truly hilarious!"
Over the next year, Beethoven's Wig received 15 national awards including a Grammy Nomination for Best Musical Album for Children, and a Parent's Choice Award. It was also designated an American Library Association Notable Recording.
's Morning Edition, and his two albums took over the #1 and #2 spot on Amazon's Hot 100 Sales Chart simultaneously.
While Perlmutter had not originally conceived of Beethoven's Wig as a performing group, the reception that the albums received convinced him to put together a touring group to perform with orchestras. The group feaured Elin Carlson, soprano; Susan Boyd, alto; Jonathan Mack, tenor and Jon Joyce, bass. A breakthrough came in May 2006, when Perlmutter and Beethoven's Wig performed to a sold out audience at Meyerhoff Symphony Hall with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
.
. Then in 2006, he released his first concept album, "Beethoven's Wig 3," in which each song featured lyrics set to a classical composition highlighting a different instrument. On the album Perlmutter also began experimenting with the form of a number of classical pieces. He took extremely short excerpts and wrote what were, in essence, little poems set to music. Some, such as an excerpt from Saint-Saëns "Carnival of the Animals," which highlights the xylophone
, were as short as ten seconds. For this work Perlmutter received his third Grammy Nomination.
In 2008, he released Beethoven's Wig 4, another concept album in which each song featured lyrics for classical pieces written for dances and marches. In this album he expanded the reach of previous Beethoven's Wig albums by including pieces by American composers Scott Joplin
and John Philip Sousa
. Perlmutter co-produced the album with Michael Geiger, a bass in the Los Angeles Opera
, who has also sung on three of the Beethoven's Wig albums. Beethoven's Wig 4" brought Perlmutter his fourth Grammy Nomination. In 2011, the first “Beethoven’s Wig Songbook” was published by Alfred Music Publishing. The songbook is collection of all the songs from the first Beethoven’s Wig album in a piano/vocal edition for pianists of early intermediate level and above.
To date, the Beethoven's Wig series has won a record 46 National Awards. Perlmutter continues to perform with his group of four Beethoven's Wig singers. Hailed as opening the door to "serious music" in a way that's fun, Beethoven's Wig is a popular attraction not only with symphony orchestras, but also with college and university ensembles. When they perform at educational institutions the group also offers master classes.
Richard Perlmutter
Richard Perlmutter is an American songwriter, musician, singer, producer and author. He was born in Newark, New Jersey and raised in Plainfield, New Jersey....
, the group has been a featured performer with numerous symphony orchestras. Beethoven's Wig has recorded four albums.
Each Beethoven's Wig CD has received a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
nomination for Best Musical Album for Children. The group has also received four Parents Choice Awards, and three of its albums have been named American Library Association Notable Recordings. In total the series has been honored with 46 national awards.
The performing and recording group features singers Elin Carlson, Jonathan Mack, Susan Boyd, Jon Joyce and Michael Geiger.
Beethoven's Wig: Sing Along Symphonies: 2002
The group's first album Beethoven's Wig: Sing Along Symphonies was released on Rounder RecordsRounder Records
Rounder Records, originally of Cambridge, Massachusetts, but now based in Burlington, Massachusetts, is a record label founded in 1970 by Ken Irwin, Bill Nowlin and Marian Leighton-Levy, while all three were still university students...
in 2002. Prior to that time Perlmutter had released two solo albums, Tin Pan Alley Songs For Children, and Hot Diggity, and produced albums for the Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
winning band Nickel Creek
Nickel Creek
Nickel Creek was an American progressive acoustic music trio consisting of Chris Thile , Sara Watkins and Sean Watkins . The band was founded in 1989 and released 6 albums between 1993 and 2006...
and Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
cast member Victoria Jackson
Victoria Jackson
Victoria Jackson is an American comedian, actress, satirist and singer best known as a cast member of the NBC television sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 1986 to 1992....
. Perlmutter had studied classical guitar, piano, and music composition, and had wanted to write lyrics to classical music. He described his thoughts when he came up with the words "Beethoven's wig is very big", to the tune of the allegro con brio of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, "The words fit perfectly with the first eight notes of the symphony. And the wig was a perfect symbol for classical music."
Within a week of the release of the album, Perlmutter was featured on NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
's All Things Considered, and then appeared on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's Today Show. The album shot to #6 on Amazon
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
's Hot 100 Sales Chart and held the #1 position on both the Amazon Classical and Children's Music Sales Charts for four months.
Pulse magazine called Beethoven's Wig, "Brilliant, absolutely brilliant!" The LA Times said it was, "an irreverent approach to music appreciation." US News and World Report said, "Perlmutter's got goofball charm… the lyrics are truly hilarious!"
Over the next year, Beethoven's Wig received 15 national awards including a Grammy Nomination for Best Musical Album for Children, and a Parent's Choice Award. It was also designated an American Library Association Notable Recording.
Beethoven's Wig begins performing: 2004
When Beethoven's Wig 2 was released in 2004, Perlmutter appeared on NPRNPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
's Morning Edition, and his two albums took over the #1 and #2 spot on Amazon's Hot 100 Sales Chart simultaneously.
While Perlmutter had not originally conceived of Beethoven's Wig as a performing group, the reception that the albums received convinced him to put together a touring group to perform with orchestras. The group feaured Elin Carlson, soprano; Susan Boyd, alto; Jonathan Mack, tenor and Jon Joyce, bass. A breakthrough came in May 2006, when Perlmutter and Beethoven's Wig performed to a sold out audience at Meyerhoff Symphony Hall with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra is a professional American symphony orchestra based in Baltimore, Maryland.In September 2007, Maestra Marin Alsop led her inaugural concerts as the Orchestra’s twelfth music director, making her the first woman to head a major American orchestra.The BSO Board...
.
Concept albums and a book: 2005-2011
In 2005, Perlmutter released "Beethoven's Wig: Read Along Symphonies," a children's book illustrated by Maria RosettiMaria Rosetti
Maria Rosetti was an English-born Wallachian and Romanian political activist, journalist, essayist, philanthropist and socialite. The sister of British diplomat Effingham Grant and wife of radical leader C. A. Rosetti, she played an active part in the Wallachian Revolution of 1848...
. Then in 2006, he released his first concept album, "Beethoven's Wig 3," in which each song featured lyrics set to a classical composition highlighting a different instrument. On the album Perlmutter also began experimenting with the form of a number of classical pieces. He took extremely short excerpts and wrote what were, in essence, little poems set to music. Some, such as an excerpt from Saint-Saëns "Carnival of the Animals," which highlights the xylophone
Xylophone
The xylophone is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets...
, were as short as ten seconds. For this work Perlmutter received his third Grammy Nomination.
In 2008, he released Beethoven's Wig 4, another concept album in which each song featured lyrics for classical pieces written for dances and marches. In this album he expanded the reach of previous Beethoven's Wig albums by including pieces by American composers Scott Joplin
Scott Joplin
Scott Joplin was an American composer and pianist. Joplin achieved fame for his ragtime compositions, and was later dubbed "The King of Ragtime". During his brief career, Joplin wrote 44 original ragtime pieces, one ragtime ballet, and two operas...
and John Philip Sousa
John Philip Sousa
John Philip Sousa was an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic era, known particularly for American military and patriotic marches. Because of his mastery of march composition, he is known as "The March King" or the "American March King" due to his British counterpart Kenneth J....
. Perlmutter co-produced the album with Michael Geiger, a bass in the Los Angeles Opera
Los Angeles Opera
The Los Angeles Opera is an opera company in Los Angeles, California. It is the fourth largest opera company in the United States. The company's home base is the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, part of the Los Angeles Music Center.-Current leadership:...
, who has also sung on three of the Beethoven's Wig albums. Beethoven's Wig 4" brought Perlmutter his fourth Grammy Nomination. In 2011, the first “Beethoven’s Wig Songbook” was published by Alfred Music Publishing. The songbook is collection of all the songs from the first Beethoven’s Wig album in a piano/vocal edition for pianists of early intermediate level and above.
To date, the Beethoven's Wig series has won a record 46 National Awards. Perlmutter continues to perform with his group of four Beethoven's Wig singers. Hailed as opening the door to "serious music" in a way that's fun, Beethoven's Wig is a popular attraction not only with symphony orchestras, but also with college and university ensembles. When they perform at educational institutions the group also offers master classes.
Awards
- Grammy AwardGrammy AwardA Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
Nomination: Best Musical Album for Children (2002, 2004, 2006, 2008) - American Library AssociationAmerican Library AssociationThe American Library Association is a non-profit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with more than 62,000 members....
Notable Recording (2003, 2005, 2009) - ALA Booklist, Editor's Choice (2002, 2004, 2008)
- Parents Choice Award (2003, 2005, 2007, 2009)
- NAPPANappaNappa may refer to:*Nappa , a character in Dragon Ball media*Nappa cabbage or napa cabbage, a type of Chinese cabbage*Nappa leather, a full-grain leather*Nappa, North Yorkshire, England*Nappa, Finland, a village in northern Kymenlaakso...
Award (2002, 2004, 2006) - Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum Award (2003, 2005, 2009)
- Film Advisory BoardFilm Advisory BoardThe Film Advisory Board, Inc. is a member-supported organization founded in 1975 by Elayne Blythe . The FAB's "Award of Excellence" was developed to award quality family-oriented and children's entertainment in both print and electronic media.The second division of FAB is the FAB Ratings System...
Award of Excellence (2003)
Discography
- Beethoven's Wig (Rounder RecordsRounder RecordsRounder Records, originally of Cambridge, Massachusetts, but now based in Burlington, Massachusetts, is a record label founded in 1970 by Ken Irwin, Bill Nowlin and Marian Leighton-Levy, while all three were still university students...
, 2002) - Beethoven's Wig 2: More Sing Along Symphonies (Rounder Records, 2004)
- Beethoven's Wig 3: Many More Sing Along Symphonies (Rounder Records, 2006)
- Beethoven's Wig 4: Dance Along Symphonies (Rounder Records, 2008)
Books
- Beethoven's Wig: Read Along Symphonies (Illustrated by Maria RosettiMaria RosettiMaria Rosetti was an English-born Wallachian and Romanian political activist, journalist, essayist, philanthropist and socialite. The sister of British diplomat Effingham Grant and wife of radical leader C. A. Rosetti, she played an active part in the Wallachian Revolution of 1848...
, Rounder Books, 2005) - Beethoven's Wig Songbook: Piano/Vocal Edition (Alfred Music Publishing, 2011)